This invention relates to a liner for a door edge guard and to the assembly of the liner with a metallic door edge guard and with the sheet metal edges of a door itself. The liner and door edge guard assembly is particularly suitable for use on the doors of automobiles. For details of the advantages and need for liners in door edge guard assemblies, reference is made to my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 118,475 filed Feb. 4, 1980 and Ser. No. 132,525 filed Mar. 21, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,348 both of which are entitled "Door Edge Guard".
Door edge guards typically are applied to the vertical sheet metal edges of automotive doors in a self-adhering manner. The edge guards are formed in a U-shape for this purpose and are made from a metal of decorative character. Steel, either stainless or plated, is the metal usually chosen because of its strength, formability, spring characteristics and ability to accommodate doors of varying and various thicknesses. Separate fasteners or adhesive for the door edge guards generally is considered to be unacceptable by automobile manufacturers, after-market dealers and end-users of these devices. Also, edge guards that would add to the likelihood of corrosion are unsatisfactory. For this reason, there is a demand for edge guards that have an inner liner that prevents metal-to-metal contact between the edge guard and the somewhat dissimilar metal of the door itself. Usually, the inner liner is made from a vinyl or other suitable plastic material.
Plastic liners for door edge guards can be fabricated as extrusions that have a generally U-shaped configuration. The liner can then be placed directly on an automobile door and the metallic edge guard slipped over the plastic liner. Alternatively, the plastic liner can be inserted in the metallic edge guard and then these assembled elements can be made to slide over the sheet metal edge of an automobile or other door.
In the above-mentioned patent applications, there are described door edge guard assemblies that have liners. One of these patent applications, Ser. No. 132,525, describes and illustrates a door edge guard liner that has two beads of plastic at the ends of the legs of the U-shaped liner. These beads are contacted by the ends of the legs of the U-shaped and somewhat larger cross-section metallic edge guard element, which receives the plastic element prior to or after the liner being or having been positioned on the edge of a door. The beads, during this positioning on the door, aid in the installation and can improve the seal between the metallic edge guard element and the plastic liner, as well as between the plastic liner and the sheet metal received within it. These seals are of importance in limiting electrolytic corrosion that might otherwise occur in the presence within the door edge guard assembly on a door of an electrolyte, such as water or salt spray.